LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is planning to allow foreign states to own up to 15% of a newspaper title, a government official said on Wednesday – a move that could speed up the sale of the Telegraph.
The battle over one of Britain’s most famous newspapers has raised questions about the independence of the media and the role of foreign investors acquiring ownership of politically influential assets.
The then-Conservative government last year blocked RedBird IMI, run by former CNN boss Jeff Zucker and with the majority of its funding from Abu Dhabi, from owning the Telegraph when it banned all foreign investment in British newspaper groups.
Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI took control of the Telegraph titles and the Spectator magazine in 2023 when it helped repay the Barclay family’s 1.2 billion pound ($1.59 billion) debt to Lloyds Bank.
Setting a cap would allow Abu Dhabi to retain some ownership of the paper.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment.
($1 = 0.7524 pounds)
(This story has been refiled to add dropped words in paragraph 4)
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; editing by William James)
